Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-06-28

why the Interstate law has knocked the
business higher than a kite. Under the
law the roads have almost entirely ceased
issuing passes, and it is that that makes
stealing risky business. It's like
this: The conductor who is up 10 snuff
Knows the prominent people living along
the line to whom the company has
granted annual passes. Many are public
men whose goings and comings are
chron;cIed in the daily papers Others
travel Oh the road on certain days; Others
seldom use their passes; some loan theirs
10 friends. The habits Of the sO-called
chronic 'passers' are thoroughly well
known to the conductors, end after having
once seen the pass and taken its number,
they carefully preserve that"
FOILING A SPOTTER.
''IGw are The spoilers headed of?r
al once kew g conductor on railroad
running cut OF Chicago who was caught
in bad predicamcnt. The spotter saw
him collect fare from q passenger, and
/ the chump pocketed it all and made no
cash returns whatever for the trip. He
was asked to explain, and coolly told the
/ General Superintendent that the passenger
! VINO paid his fare was & friend whom
! h. dead-headed over the liue and, fearing
some officer or spy of the company might
| De aboard and see him pass the mzn with
Gus collecting Z ticket, he had the friend
pay him his fare like an body else, and
an hour afterwarG had mis- money returned
TO MIN by the conductor. The conduct.
or'5 ready lie saved him. The superin-
tendent, however, was not convinced, and
asked the conductor to have his dead
head friend call and bear out his state
MT Nha A+,,,v -, =
the office so that he could see the stranger
and Identify him or discover the cheat if |
one was TO be attempted by the con-
ductor. But the latter was too fig for the |
superintendent. He ssw right through |
the little scheme as quick as fash. The
superintendent had not spoken the last
word before the msn Of tickets said il
would be impossible to send his friend to
the Superintendent because the friend
was f2r away on the Pacific coast, where /
he had gone 10 seek his fortune, and the
conductor did not know where he was.
The last heard Of that conductor he was
still runniBg-and stealing"
"It spoilers are SO Intellectual, why do s
the roads employ them?"
'TLeY ere Intellectual only when they {
work that way. When they 60 to work '
right they always can find out whether (
conductor is dishonest, although they can s
lot always catch him at it or fasten the t
,rime with proof The best way is for
he spotter to run over the line for '
couple of months as conductor. The i
company can easily arrange that There t
re so many rules laid down for en-
'loyes to follow that some one or more |,
II them is constantly infracted. The sus- c
ected man is suddenly laid off for the
iolatiOn Of some inconsequential regu- 3
TO wear his badge con v
family, for instance-and the spotter, who D
usually an employe of the company
noWn to and by all the men but not SIS
spotteT) is put on 10 take his place. He Il
'arns after few trips what the run ought
} average, ard if this figure is not met d
1.-THE conductors previous and suisse C
uent reports it is prima faCie that he is e.
inclihg'' T